Keg washing apparatus



GF. BARRETT KEG WASHING APPARATUS April'14, 1953 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 Filed Dec. 8, 1947 i QR Gttomeg APl'l 14, 1953 G. F. BARRETT 2,634,734

KEG WASHING APPARATUS Filed Dec. a. 1947 A 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 nventor lam/7'. F mewsrr Patented Apr. 14, 1953 KEG WASHING APPARATUS Grant F. Barrett; Spokane, Wash., assgnor to General Machinery Co.,V Spokane, Wash.r

Application December 8, 1947', Serial' No. 790;'349

(Cl. 134-43)v 1 Claim. 1

Thisinvention relates to a beer keg washer and'l it is one object of the invention to provide `awashervv oft this character ofV such construction that' kegs maybe fed to the frontend of the appa-ratus and then transferred in step by step movements into position for spraying of caustic cleansing iiuidf into the kegs and then into position for discharge of rinsing Water into the kegs, after which the kegs being removed from the washing apparatus.

Another object' of the invention is to provide a' keg washing apparatus wherein kegs are deposited at the front end of a frame and then turned to such a position that their bung holes are disposed at'the bottoms of the kegs, the kegs being then automatically transferred to a location for' discharge ofthe cleansing iiuid through their bung holes into the kegs and then transferred to a position for discharge of rinsing water into the' kegs.

Another' object' ofv the invention is to provide a keg' washing apparatus having a frame provided with saddles or' seats to receive and support the kegs with nozzles extending into the kegs through their bung holes, the nozzles or spray heads being mounted upright at ends of pipes and now of liquid through the pipes being controlled by valves having operating levers so associated with the nozzles or spray heads that as k'egs are set in' place over the said nozzles, they will rest upon the levers and automatically cause the valves to be opened and held open until the kegs are lifted out of .contactwith the levers.

Another object ofi-therinvention is to provide a kegwashingapparatus having at its front end a devicev tiltabl'el downwardlyI as a keg to be washed is set in place at the. front end of; the frame' and. carrying' a nger or peg for engagingthrough the bung hole of the keg and automatically stopping rotation of the keg when its bung hole is at the bottom of the keg.

Another object of the invention is to provide a' keg washing apparatus wherein a series'of kegs are' moved at the samek time from one position to another towards the rear end of the frame during' a" cleaning operation.

Another4 o'b'ject of theA invention is` to provide a' keg' cleaningv apparatus,l which is' strong and durable', rapid in its operation and very efcient as the kefgs are thoroughly cleansed with caustic cleansing liquidand then thoroughly rinsed with clear waterso' that all ofV thevcaustic will be removedl from the" kegs, the caustic being returned toi a container' so' that it.' will. not'lbe. wasted and may be" again-withdrawn from the' container and 2 forced by a pump through a pipeto. discharge nozzles. v

The' invention isillustrated inthe accompany'- ing drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a top planview lof the'- improved keg cleaning apparatus- Fig. 2 is a view showing.f a' portion. of the keg cleaner in side elevation.

Fig. 3 is 'a fragmentary sectional view upon an enlarged scale taken vertically along the'line 3-#3 of Figure l.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of onev of the spray heads or'nozzlestogether with a portion of the pipe carrying the same and' a valvey for con'- trolling flow of liquid' through the pipe.

Fig. 5 is a view ofthe device for holding' a keg in position with itsbung' holeA at its bottompreparatory to transfer'of thekeg to' a' position over a' spray' nozzle;

This improved keg cleaning or washing ap'- paratus has a frame' I, which may bel supported in anl elevated position in any' desired manner and longitudinally of which extend ba'rs 2 spaced 'props 3. Bearing Ablocks l extend upwardly from the bars' 2' ne'ar front ends thereof, and` carry shafts 5 and 6` upon which wheel'svor rollers'l and 8 are mounted, the rollers T being idler rollers Vand the rollers 8` being 'xed to the shaft to turn therewith and constituting' means for imparting turning motion to a keg K, set in place upon' the companion rollers 'l and Band supported thereby as indicated' by dotted lines in Figure 2. Spaeerl from opposite sides of the' bar' are' guides 9 which are formed of angle metal and are' supported above' the rollers 1 so that a keg K may be fed onto the guides and rollA therefrom onto the rollers. The kegs may be fed to the guides by a suitable conveyor (not shown)` or manually placed upon the guides by a workman; A sprocket wheel' il] about which a chain |`Ii is'trained is mounted up'on the shaft 6, so that rotary motion may be imparted to' this shaft and to the rollers il and as the rollers 8 rotate they' limpart' turning motion to' the keg.

The keg is to be brought'to a' stopwith itsbun'g hole at its bottom Iand in order todo* so'vthere has lbeen provided an armA I2 which extends across the shaft 5' and is pivotall'y mounted for ve'naic'al' tilting movement' by 'a yoke i3,v `a vertical pin or peg? I`4 lbeing mounted through therear end portion ofithi-sa'rm. The forward portion of the arm is weighted by a sleeve I5 secured about it and therefore the rear end portion of the arm will be urged upwardly and the upper end of the Ipeg or finger I4 have contact with a keg set at rest upon the rollers. A's the keg is turned its bung hole will Ibe shifted downwardly into position under the keg and when the bung hole reaches the finger the arm will be tilted vertically and the finger pass upwardly through the bung =hole into the keg and prevent further rotation of the keg. The rollers 8 will continue to rotate and have rubbing contact with the keg but the idler rollers 1 will cease to turn when rotation of the keg stops.

The keg is then to be shifted in step' by step movements along the frame into place upon saddles which may be referred to as washing' stations I 6 and I1, and rinsing stations I8 and I9, and are formed by blocks 20 rising from the bars 2 and arranged in Ipairs spaced from ea'ch other longitudinally of the bars and having upper ends cut diagonally in downwardly converging relation to eachother so 'that the barrels will rest in stationary position upon these blocks. In order to move the kegs from the rollers in step by step movements to the various washing and rinsing stations there has'been provided a ycarriage 2I having longitudinallyextending bars 22 carrying 'sets of upwardly extending blocks 23 cut diagonallv at their upper ends 'the same' as the blocks 2U and forming saddles spaced from each other longitudinally of the bars 22. End portions `22 of the bars 22 are formed separate'therefrom and secured to them by bridging bars 24 and providing spaces 25 near opposite ends of the side bars of the carriage 2 I. Shafts 26 extend across front Iand rear portions of the bars and are rotatably mounted through bearings 21 carried by these bars and have end portions projecting outwardly' from the bars 2 for carrying arms'28 which are rmly secured to these shafts so that as the shafts rotate the arms will be swung in circular paths about the yshafts as indicated by the circular line of dashes and arrows in Figure 2. During this swinging movement of the larms the carriage will be shifted upwardly and downwardly and also longitudinally due to the fact that outer ends of the arms 28 are pivoted to the vend sections 22 of the bars 22 but the carriage will at all times remain in =a horizontal position and kees resting upon saddles formed -by the blocks 23 will remain in place upon these saddles and not roll oifof them. -The openingsyor spaces 25 are provided lso that during movement of the carriage' ends of the shafts 26 may pass through lject laterally from inner sid-e portions, ofV gear reduction boxes 34 and 35 located near front and rear ends of the main frame of the washing a-pparatus. The gearing in the box 34 is driven from a motor 36, rotation is transmitted from gearing in the box 34 to gearing in the box 35 by a transmission shaft 31 so `that the shafts 32 'and 33 are simultaneously rotated. The shaft .32 also carries a sprocket wheel 38 about which vis trained the `chain II which extends upwardly .therefrom and has its upper portion trained about the sprocket I0 and causes rotation to be imparted to the shaft 6 about the rollers or wheels 8 carried thereby.

During rotation of the shafts 26, the carriage will be swung upwardly from a lowered position under the bars 2 and a keg resting upon the rollers 1 and 8 will be lifted by the saddle blocks at the front end carriage and carried upwardly and then rearwardly and downwardly and deposited upon the saddle blocks forming'the first washing station I6. The carriage continues its downward movement and then moves forwardly and upwardly to remove another keg from the rollers while at this time the second set of saddle blocks carried by the carriage lifts the previously deposited keg from the rst washing station and 'transfers it to the second washing station. This is repeated and the kegs progressively transferred in step by step movement to the first and second washing stations I6 and I1 and then to the rinsing stations I 8 and I9, the washed and rinsed keg being removed from the second rinsing station by the final set of saddle `blocks 23, carried by the carriage and deposited in a suitable conveyance or upon a conveyorleading from the washing apparatus and not shown in the drawings. v

The kegs are washed bycaustic, or other suitable cleaning fluid, and this fluid is stored in a tank 39 with which a pump y46 is connected by a pipe il so that the caustic washing iiuld may be withdrawn from the tank by the pump and forced under pressure through a pipe 42 which extends into the main frame of the washing apparatus and then upwardly therein midway its width. The upper end of the pipe 42 carries a T-coupling 43 located between the bars 2 midway the length of space between the saddles or washing stations I6 andv I1 and from this coupling extend pipes 44. The pipes 44 extend longitudi nally of the frame in opposite directions and have their outer ends connected with upstanding tubular spray heads or nozzles 45 by couplings 46, the nozzles being closed at their upper ends by rounded heads, as shown in Figure 4, and being formed through their heads and their side walls with a multiplicity of perforations 41 through which the caustic cleaning fluid is discharged in jets. The nozzles pass upwardly through the bung holes of the kegs as the kegs settle upon the saddl-e blocks 26 at the two cleaning stations and as a barrel settles in place it makes contact with the forked end or yoke 48 of a lever 46 and depresses the lever so that the lever whichis pivoted to an upstanding post 56 of a valve 5I will apply downward p'ressure'to the stem 52 of a valve head 53 and cause opening of the valve. Discharge of the cleaning fluid will continue as long as thekeg rests upon the saddle blocks and fluid which iiows from a barrel during a cleaning operation returns to the tank. Splash plates 54 extend upwardly at an incline from ends of the tank for guiding cleaning fluid back into the tank and one of these splash plates has an extention serving as a shield 55 for the sprocket 29 and the chain 36.

After the barrel has been thoroughly sprayed with cleaning fluid at thetwo washing stations and thus thoroughly cleaned, it is transferred to the rinsing stations I8 and I6 where it rests upon their saddle blocks. In order to 'supplyvv rinsing water there has been provided a pipe 5.6 which leads Vfrom a water main vor other source of water under vpressure and has a portion extending .vertically under the main frame similar to the man'- upper end of this pipe 56 is connected with pipes 57 by a T-coupling 58 and at their outer` ends the pipes 51 carry upstanding nozzles 59 corresponding to the nozzles 45. Flow of Water through the pipes 57 and their nozzles 59 is controlled by valves 58 which are of the same construction as the valves i and these valves are opened by levers 6l when kegs are resting upon the levers and seated upon the saddle blocks of the rinsing stations. It will thus be seen that during use of the keg washing apparatus kegs will be moved in step by step movements from the rollers 1 and 8 to the two Washing stations where the nozzles 45 enter the kegs through their bung holes and spray caustic cleansing solution into the kegs and are then shifted in step by step movements to the two rinsing stations where the nozzles 59 enter the kegs and clear water is discharged into the kegs. The kegs will thus be thoroughly washed and rinsed and subjected to two washings and two rinsings, after which the kegs are automatically removed from the second rinsing station by the blocks 23 at the rear end of the carriage and placed in a vehicle or onto a conveyor by means of which they are transported to a place of storage or to a filling apparatus.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

A keg Washing apparatus comprising a frame supported horizontally in an elevated position and including bars projecting from front and rear ends of the frame and spaced transversely from each other, front and rear shafts rotatably mounted across said bars transversely thereof adjacent ends of said frame, front and rear rollers spaced from each other longitudinally of the forwardly projecting portions of said bars and constituting a keg-receiving station, a member between said rollers adapted to engage in a bung hole of a keg and hold the keg stationary with its bung hole presented downwardly, arms carried by and extending from said shafts radially thereof and having swinging movement in circular paths intermediate the width of said frame during rotation of the shafts, a carriage midway the width of said frame having spaced side bars p-ivoted at their ends to outer ends of said arms and having movement vertically through the frame and longitudinally thereof during swinging movement of the arms, saddles spaced from each other longitudinally of said frame and constituting a washing station and a rinsing station, mechanisms located at the washing and rinsing stations for discharging liquid upwardly through their bung holes into kegs resting upon the saddles, saddles carried by said carriage in position for engaging under kegs and transferring the kegs in step by step movements from one station to another during movement of the carriage, a motor, a shaft rotated from said motor, and means for transmitting rotary motion from the last mentioned shaft to the rollers and to the shafts carrying said arms.

GRANT F. BARRETT.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,046,856 Reininger Dec. 10, 1912 1,198,974 Tremper Sept. 19, 1916 1,298,489 Frelinghuysen Mar. 25, 1919 1,917,350 Wolf July 11, 1933 2,189,451 Peters Feb. 6, 1940 

